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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Jumbo

Can I tell you something? I love buttons. And I truly am loving all the work and thought that goes into making my own buttons. I hope you're not sick of me talking about them. Because I am having so much fun!

Last night as I was getting more buttons ready for the shop Bryan commented to me, "You haven't sewn very much lately." And he's right. But it's not really because I'm overwhelmed or overly busy with things I have to do or anything like that. It's just because I've been having fun tinkering around with my buttons.

And one of my recent button-tinkerings has been a bit of product testing. When I first started making my buttons I wasn't sure how well they'd do in the wash. Obviously that's kind of a big deal since most buttons get sewn onto clothes and most clothes get dirty. Right? Right.

So my first round of "product testing" (Doesn't that sound official? Hehe.) involved some hand-washing tests. Here's basically how it went down:

Water: no problem!Soap: no problem!Scrubbing: no problem!How does the button look after it's been washed?: Great! Exactly the same as before!

Excellent, right? Exactly what I was hoping for. :)

But, let's be honest, who really washes things by hand on a regular basis anymore? Nobody I know. That's who.

So the product testing continued. Next up? The washer and dryer.

Here's how that went down:

Washing machine: no problem!Dryer: ok, but not the best option

Let me explain a little here. The buttons do great in the washing machine (we washed ours on a regular warm setting). The button colors don't bleed (in fact I haven't seen them bleed on anything at all yet, so I wouldn't worry about that), the buttons hold their shape perfectly well, and--really--they come out looking exactly the same as when they went into the wash. Which is what we want, right? Right.

When the buttons went through the dryer they came out the same as they went in... but softer. So, no, if you throw these buttons in the dryer by accident it's not going to be a big problem. It won't come out in little bits and pieces and ruin your whole load. The buttons hold together just fine. But they will be slightly malleable (bendy-ish) for a while. So what to do if you send one of these buttons through the dryer? Just let them lie flat until they return to room temperature. Once the buttons have returned to room temperature they will be hard again, just like they were before.

However, the much simpler (and, really, more cost and energy-efficient) way to get around this problem is to simply line dry the item that the button is sewn onto. Go ahead and send it through the washing machine and then just hang it up to dry! It'll give your clothes that fresh air feeling and save you the cost of a dryer load. And--let's be honest here--line drying clothes is really cute. And it kinds of makes you feel like a classy vintage housewife. Which is definitely a plus in my book.

But none of this has to do with the title of the post. What's so "jumbo" about my product testing? Well, nothing, actually. I kind of just got off on a tangent there.

But I have to be honest with you. My all time favorite buttons right now are these lacey white ones. Scallop edge? Sweet little dots? A full 1 3/8" across? Swoon. With such classic shape and color, these buttons would be fun for so, so many projects.

Now you see why I'm having so much fun with my buttons! :)

If you'd like to have some fun with them too, feel free to browse the SHOP and pick some you like. See you there!

Have a great day everyone!

Oh, and if you missed it yesterday because of the holiday, be sure to check out my Skinny Camera Strap tutorial. It'll take you all of about five minutes, and will make your little point and shoot so much more accessible!